8-14-2021; "Global Warmed" Has Happened--What Does It Mean for WC?; Shawn Biery's New and Updated IL WC Rate Sheet and more

Synopsis: “Global Warmed” Has Happened and Sure to Get Worse—What Does It Mean for Work Comp?

Editor’s comment: In the last 60 days, the U.S. Pacific Northwest was hit with temperatures over 115 degrees—another boiling hot event is predicted in that area again for right now. Sicily, Italy just hit an all-time record temperature for Europe of over 115 degrees. In short, this planet is getting hotter and hotter and we aren’t truly doing much about it.

While those temps above may bother you and me, my bigger concern isn’t 115+ degrees—it is what we are going to do if Chicago or Milwaukee have to deal with 130 degrees or even 150 degrees! If you don’t think that can happen, trust me, every day it is getting worse and, in my view, thousands remain in denial and won’t admit this is real.

If you haven’t seen former Vice-President Al Gore’s 2006 movie titled “An Inconvenient Truth,” I recommend you and your family do so when possible. Al Gore did what he could to get folks out of denial. He made the clearest possible case for what we are going into from a temperature perspective with “Global Warmed”, as we move to the middle of this century. Basically, all temperatures across the globe are hitting higher and higher marks and are starting to be fatally dangerous.

Two things I believe Al Gore sorta ‘missed’ are simple and need to be considered by you, your family and friends.

First and most important, “Global Warmed” is certain to be deadly and possibly on a large scale. As temperatures claim to 130, 140, 150 degrees, this world will be a HOT mess. If we don’t address it and, in my view, we aren’t doing much to reverse this process, it is going to start killing us in moderate but ever-increasing numbers. “Global Warmed” is going to force millions of humans to move near oceans, rivers and lakes to find low cost methods to beat the heat. Please note that is going to expose those millions to weather events that continue to get wackier and wackier, like giant hurricanes, numerous tornadoes, continent-sized tsunamis, sweeping wildfires and flooding.

Second and probably sadder to contemplate is the problem we have as Homo sapiens—there are too many of us with lots more on the way. Al Gore’s focus in his analysis was “carbon” and all politicians now look at carbon as the apparent villain. In my view, that is missing the point. I feel if you have 15 people in a bathtub, common sense is going to tell you no matter how penurious those 15 people are with energy, the water in the tub is going to get increasingly warm. Right now, we have about 7.9 Billion people on this tiny globe. We are adding about 50 million new humans every year. In my view, India and China are going to lose thousands of citizens due to heat but they may also be the biggest cause of the problem, as they have no true program to slow their population growth and the rising heat that comes from billions of humans tightly packed.

The world population numbers have way more than doubled in my lifetime and they continue to skyrocket. As a species, we have done very little to slow or stop that spiraling number. In my humble view, our inability to cut the number of humans who we are sharing the globe with is causing the globe itself to cut the number, as sweltering heat is going to attack humans directly and also attack us indirectly by both drying up rivers, crops and forests while also flooding us out, as ocean waters rise and flow ashore.

What Does “Global Warmed” Mean for Workers’ Comp?

Well, risk management has to learn about the risks of having people out in triple-digit heat and work hard to avoid heat-related injuries and illnesses/fatalities in the workplace. In my view, your company is going to “own” heat-related risk and it cannot be ignored. To my knowledge, the fastest growing cancer is skin cancer, almost certainly from exposure to the sun’s rays—make sure your workers have appropriate sun-blocking hats, clothes and sprays. Please also remember heart attacks, strokes and fatalities are big number WC claims, from the perspective of lost time and medical care. Consider getting appropriate scientific devices to record and track weather and heat so if a late-reported claim from heat exposure is made, you can return to your computers to document or possibly challenge a major loss.

OSHA Provides Guidance on Heat-Related Risk Management

OSHA’s great website indicates outdoor workers who are exposed to hot and humid conditions are at risk of heat-related illnesses/injuries. The risk of heat-related illness becomes greater as the weather gets hotter and more humid. This situation is particularly serious when hot weather arrives suddenly early in the season, before workers have had a chance to adapt to inbound and ever-changing weather. For people working outdoors in hot weather, both air temperature and humidity affect how hot they feel. The "heat index" is a single value that takes both temperature and humidity into account. The higher the heat index, the hotter the weather feels, since sweat does not readily evaporate and cool the skin. The heat index is a better measure than air temperature alone for estimating the risk to workers from environmental heat sources.

Heat-related Illnesses/Injuries Can Be Prevented

OSHA does not have a specific standard that covers working in hot environments. Nonetheless, under the OSH Act, employers have a duty to protect workers from recognized serious hazards in the workplace, including heat-related hazards. The OSHA guide helps employers and worksite supervisors prepare and implement hot weather plans. It explains how to use the heat index to determine when extra precautions are needed at a worksite to protect workers from environmental contributions to heat-related illness. Workers performing strenuous activity, workers using heavy or non-breathable protective clothing, and workers who are new to an outdoor job need additional precautions beyond those warranted by heat index alone.

Workers new to outdoor jobs are generally most at risk for heat-related illnesses. For example, Cal/OSHA investigated 25 incidents of heat-related illness. In almost half of the cases, the worker involved was on their first day of work and in 80% of the cases the worker involved had only been on the job for four or fewer days. That's why it's important to gradually increase the workload or allow more frequent breaks to help new workers and those returning to a job after time away build up a tolerance for hot conditions. Make sure that workers understand the risks and are "acclimatized".

Outdoor workers include any workers who spend a substantial portion of the shift outdoors. Examples include first-responders, construction workers, agricultural workers, baggage handlers, electrical power transmission and control workers, and landscaping and yard maintenance workers. These workers are at risk of heat-related illness when the heat index is high. Additional risk factors are listed below. These must be taken into consideration even when the heat index is lower.

* Work in direct sunlight - adds up to 15 degrees to the heat index.

* Perform prolonged or strenuous work

* Wear heavy protective clothing or impermeable suits

Summary

The world around us is ever-changing. “Global Warmed” is certain to bring new and unpredictable challenges. If you and your company are going to succeed, you have to start to read up and research the best approaches to handling rising heat in your work sites.

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